Nagpur: Those volunteering to plant saplings will now have to submit a self-affidavit committing to nurture and protect the trees after planting.Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has decided to make individuals and institutions accountable for every sapling planted under its ambitious five-lakh-tree campaign.The decision follows the failure of past mass plantation attempts, where sapling survival rates remained low. Mayor Neeta Thakre said the affidavit mechanism has been introduced to ensure the focus remains not merely on planting trees but on their long-term survival.“The responsibility of maintaining the saplings will rest with the organisations and individuals undertaking the drive,” she said.The civic body has identified major plantation sites, including Sonegaon Amrai, Bhandewadi and Sai Centre. It also plans to plant saplings in municipal and private schools, colleges and other institutional campuses, with more sites expected to be identified shortly.To speed up preparations, 10 pit-digging machines will be provided through MOIL’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. The machines will be used to dig pits before the monsoon drive gathers pace. The civic body will also provide tree guards to improve sapling survival.The mayor said the response from institutions has been encouraging. Raisoni Education Group has agreed to take responsibility for one lakh saplings, while several other organisations have come forward to adopt the remaining plantations.Every sapling planted under the campaign will be geo-tagged, enabling officials to track its location and monitor its growth digitally. The tree-mapping exercise in the South-West Assembly constituency is nearing completion and will subsequently be expanded across the city.The NMC hopes the combination of self-affidavits, institutional accountability, geo-tagging and scientific monitoring will prevent a repeat of earlier drives, in which a large number of saplings failed to survive after planting.
